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chapter 21
As I clenched my fists tightly, Hiser standing beside me chuckled softly.
“Everyone really does end up doing things they’ll regret.”
Hiser’s pupils stretched long and narrow. Golden energy swirled around his body, and a bell-like sound echoed through the air.
<<The dragon Hiser, who measures the passage of time, has used the Lord’s authority!>>
<<Dragons responding to the Lord’s call are being summoned!>>
A magic circle spread across the wooden floor. On the brightly glowing circle, two figures soon appeared. As the light faded, I let out a sharp gasp when I saw their faces.
<<Yerik, the dragon who guards the snow mountains, reveals himself.>>
<<Sertna, the dragon who holds fire within, greets you warmly.>>
A man in a pure white robe and a woman in a red sleeveless outfit stood there. They were seeing me for the first time, but I was not unfamiliar with them.
They were dragons who had appeared at least once in the illustrations of This Life Dragon.
First, Yerik, the dragon who guards the snow mountains. In the original story, his first appearance was when the protagonist advanced into the northern continent.
Yerik was among the strongest dragons in the entire world. With a single gesture, he could summon blizzards, and a stamp of his foot would bring down avalanches.
However, he was a dragon who stood on the border between good and evil. He had no interest in the world’s peace.
He cared only for the snowy mountain where he had made his nest. While he occasionally assisted the protagonist in eliminating barbarian tribes, he never truly sided with them.
Though his appearance was brief, Yerik left a strong impression on readers.
- “It’s been so hot lately. Please send Yerik to Korea for one blizzard.”
└ “That’s just a fancy way of saying you want to freeze to death.”
└ “One blizzard = instant ice age simulation.” - “I think I’ll send a Yerik to my parents’ house this summer lol.”
└ “I never imagined filial piety could go this far.”
When illustrations of all dragons were released, Yerik’s appearance became a major topic.
Hair as white as eternal snow covering a steep mountain peak. Eyes as cold and pale blue as if they would freeze anyone who met them.
Even in illustrations, people called him a terrifying beauty—but seeing him in person was even more overwhelming.
While I stared blankly at him, his tightly closed lips finally parted.
“You are the contractor of Acatelian.”
His voice was as sharp as a blade slicing through air. I snapped back to my senses. Yerik narrowed his eyes and glared at me, his gaze carrying a freezing chill.
“Grrr…”
Acatelian, who was in my arms, raised his horns and growled in irritation.
Come to think of it, Acatelian really doesn’t seem to like dragons.
Just as I tried to calm him down, a face suddenly popped right in front of mine.
“Oh my… you really are just an ordinary human.”
Short red hair with a fiery tint. Her sun-kissed coffee-colored skin matched perfectly with her green eyes.
Her elongated pupils, still unfamiliar and unsettling, made me instinctively lean back.
Sertna, the dragon who holds fire within. She was just as famous as Yerik.
True to her fire attribute, she had a fiery personality and unpredictable madness.
Whenever dull, dragging chapters continued in the original story, readers would cheer whenever Sertna appeared, expecting instant relief.
- “Finally, Sertna is hereㅠㅠ I can breathe again!”
- “The effect of Sertna-cons is amazing!”
└ “For heartburn: Sertna-cons!!”
With upward-tilted eyes full of charm, she was also a master of smiling while insulting others.
“Acatelian. Where did you even find such a pathetic contractor?”
Her blunt words stung, but she wasn’t wrong, so I couldn’t even refute her.
“Don’t insult my contractor!”
The baby dragon breathed out a threatening burst of fire.
But Sertna only laughed playfully. As the two dragons competed, exhaling heat toward each other, my cheeks grew warm.
Yerik, who hated heat, silently stepped away from them.
As expected, Acatelian didn’t seem to get along with anyone…
Watching quietly, Hiser clapped his hands. Everyone’s attention shifted toward him.
The tense atmosphere, on the verge of breaking into a fight, finally calmed.
“Why did you summon us? And even use the Lord’s authority?”
At Sertna’s question, Hiser shrugged.
“I just picked you by lottery. It seemed like the fairest way to evaluate.”
“Evaluate? You want us to be witnesses?”
Hiser nodded toward Sertna.
“More than witnesses… ‘tasting panel’ would be more accurate.”
A tasting panel. Like when a new bakery opens in town and holds a tasting event to attract customers.
This was no different.
“From now on, the contractor of Acatelian here will bake bread and serve it to you.”
As Hiser pointed at me, both Yerik and Sertna turned their full attention toward me. I straightened my posture to stop myself from trembling.
“You only need to taste it and give an honest evaluation.”
Ding!
<<The dragons are showing interest.>>
<<The gambling-addicted dragon ‘Elcasino’ cautiously reopens a betting table.>>
With Hiser acting as guarantor, the dragons would taste my bread and judge it. The dragons were already buzzing with excitement.
Understandably so. In their monotonous long lives, something interesting had finally appeared.
This was my debut.
Unlike the excited dragons, Yerik’s expression turned cold.
“You expect me to put food made by humans into my mouth?”
Proud and openly hostile toward humans—that was very much like him.
But Acatelian was not one to stay quiet when insulted.
“Don’t talk bad about my contractor!”
The two dragons confronted each other again, and the atmosphere turned tense once more.
If this continued, my bakery debut would turn into a disaster. I had already experienced one bakery fire in front of me—once was more than enough.
I quickly lifted Acatelian into my arms.
“Aca, calm down. You can’t act like that toward guests, okay?”
Perhaps my plea worked. He settled down, letting out a grumbling sound before curling into my arms.
“Shuu…”
I gently stroked his head.
“Good, good.”
That always worked best to calm him down.
Suddenly, everything went quiet—then bells rang repeatedly.
<<The dragons are so shocked they flip their wings.>>
<<The rumor-spreading dragon ‘Kadara’ starts asking what’s going on.>>
<<The one-eyed dragon ‘One-Eye’ covers his remaining eye, claiming he saw something he shouldn’t have.>>
What… is going on?
Even Yerik and Sertna looked at Acatelian in disbelief.
Of course, the baby dragon ignored all of them and continued purring in my arms.
Hiser spoke on my behalf to Yerik.
“Yerik. You can decide whether to eat after seeing it first.”
After staring at me for a long moment, Yerik slowly sat down. Sitting upright with his arms crossed, he looked extremely strict.
Sertna quickly took the seat beside him, her green eyes sparkling with anticipation.
I steadied myself again.
“Then I will begin baking now.”
I already knew what I would make.
A visually stunning dessert that would make anyone’s mouth water just by looking at it.
Pavlova cake.
The ingredients were already prepared.
I took out four eggs and quickly separated yolks from whites. After adding a bit of sugar, I grabbed the whisk.
Now it begins.
In a bakery, you rarely whisk by hand.
But there were no machines here. Fortunately, after harsh training under a master baker, I had already reached a level of mastery.
I was even once called the legendary human whisk machine.
This much I could do with my eyes closed.
Gripping the whisk with determination, I began mixing egg whites and sugar.
Some say you must empty your mind while whisking.
I disagreed.
You had to do it while releasing stress.
I poured my emotions into the whisk.
‘Damn Shibal! Damn system! Damn auto mode!’
The egg whites quickly transformed, becoming fluffy and thick.
After adding the remaining sugar, I whisked harder. The mixture expanded into a soft, cloud-like cream.
Acatelian and Hiser clapped enthusiastically like fans.
Sertna burst out laughing.
“It feels like watching a circus! This human is interesting!”
I continued whisking until stiff peaks formed, building the cream into a tall mountain.
Using a spatula, I shaped it neatly.
Then I placed it into the preheated oven.
It didn’t take long.
Soon, I pulled out a perfectly baked white mountain of meringue.
“Shuu! I want to help too!”
Acatelian had something he could do.
